Taylor’s collection of poetry is darkly beautiful in its portrayal of everyday life. The truth, Taylor believes, is found in the weakest, saddest moments, but that’s also what makes it so wonderful. In the simplest form, he dissects everyday existence line by line, metaphor by metaphor. Whether it be sidewalks, alley ways, or studio apartments The Blood of a Touristtakes a view of the world from the bottom up. Taylor depicts the lowest aspects of life within his lyrics in an elegiac and aesthetic way: “As the luckless search, through garbage bins, for some scrapsto salvage, from the day. But the sky’s still up there, and such a beautiful gray.”

The quickness of each poem keeps you turning the page, hungry for more: “Wise men say, it’s good to know, when to let go of things, but I bet they never saw you, in that dress.” Those who choose to pick up The Blood of a Touristwill be pleasantly surprised by the gritty silhouettes of alcohol, sleep, dreams, and love. Taylor deserves praise for simply bringing to the foreground the not-so-pretty parts of life and making them alluring. Taking from the title of one of the poems, there’s ‘A Certain Light’ in the darkness of the work. (November 2014)

Reviewer bio: Meaghan Ayer, a lover of the ocean, yoga, and photography, is a senior at the University of New Hampshire. She is hoping to pursue a career as an editor, but for now is focusing on school and planning a trip back to her beloved city of Florence after graduation.